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Article: Biotech needs a cash injection Lauren Mills examines the crisis in the pharmaceutical sector, ravaged by the cost of bringing new drugs to the market
- Article from:
- The Sunday Telegraph London
- Article date:
- December 1, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2002 The Sunday Telegraph London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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A crisis is looming in Britain's cash-starved biotechnology
industry which could see many smaller companies collapse and
precipitate widespread industry consolidation.
The sector is infamous for over-promising and under-delivering. In
the past two decades, Britain has produced only two profitable
biotech companies - Celltech and PowderJect Pharmaceuticals.
Despite a $5bn cash injection into the sector in the past 20
years, only a handful of products have been successfully launched. So
it is not surprising that shareholders and fund managers,
increasingly risk-averse, are reluctant to invest in biotechnology.
However, an announcement two weeks ago that Antisoma, a cancer
drug specialist, has ...